My name is Ore Ajala, I am 16 years old and a Student at Haberdashers Aske's Hatcham College doing a week placement with Code First: Girls (CF: G) during my half term. Here, I work with the team mainly on the community activities and as I do learning more about CF: G.​ I went about searching placements with technology based businesses as I hope to work in this industry. By being proactive and using contacts I have, I gained a placement at Code First: Girls.When I came across CF: G , I took an interest in the company as their mission correlates with my aspirations. They build the female representation in the STEM community that I aim to one day be a part of. Also, the community led ethos they have made them appeal to me.

Being determined to pursue a career in the technology industry, it is very common for me to hear about the lack of female representation in this sector. In fact, it’s one of the many reasons that pushed me to invest in this career path. When I was initially introduced to the computing subject at school, the lack of interest from girls was emphasised. Something that soon became very apparent to me, was that people seemed unable to adhere from mentioning the imbalance between men and women working in tech when discussing this industry. This constant reminder led me to realise that I wanted to show the people I had as company that girls are equally capable and interested as boys in computer science.This week, I aimed to gain an insight in the day to day activities of the CF:G team and build my professional skills. I had a very busy experience working with the Code First: Girls and plan to apply the skills I gained as I venture into a degree in Computer Science. The ladies were lovely to work with and made me feel incredibly welcome so I will definitely consider volunteering for the courses in the future.